2022 VVCAL
Published on April 8, 2022

2022 VVCAL: Pluto Motif

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Hello, and a huge welcome to Week 6 of the 2022 Vibrant Vintage Crochet-A-Long (VVCAL)! I’m so glad you’re here!

Attention!

If you have not yet seen the Week 6 Instruction post, please head there first and see the instructions for the version that you are working. Below, you will find the Pulsar Motif pattern, in US, and UK Terms, Chart, Video, and Step by step photos.

Social Media Hashtags: #VVCAL and #CypressTextiles

Pluto Motif

Find the Ravelry Page for this motif here and add your project!

The Cosmos: Pluto

Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. Here are some fun Pluto facts!

  • It was the first object discovered in the Kuiper belt and remains the largest known body in that area. After Pluto was discovered in 1930, it was declared the ninth planet from the Sun. However, beginning in the 1990s, its status as a planet was questioned following the discovery of several objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt and the scattered disc, including the dwarf planet Eris, leading the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006 to define the term planet formally—excluding Pluto and reclassifying it as a dwarf planet. [More]
  • Since Pluto is so far from Earth, little was known about the dwarf planet’s size or surface conditions until 2015, when NASA’s New Horizons space probe showed that Pluto has a diameter of 1,473 miles, less than one-fifth the diameter of Earth. Observations of Pluto’s surface by the New Horizons spacecraft revealed mountains that reach as high as 11,000 feet, comparable to the Rocky Mountains on Earth. While methane and nitrogen ice cover much of the surface of Pluto, these materials are not strong enough to support such enormous peaks, so scientists suspect that the mountains are formed on a bedrock of water ice. [More]
  • Photographic evidence of the former ninth planet was first sighted by 24-year-old research assistant Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. Tombaugh’s ashes are aboard the New Horizons spacecraft that passed by Pluto on Tuesday. Astronomer Percival Lowell predicted Pluto’s existence 15 years prior to Tombaugh’s discovery–even charting its approximate location based on the irregularity of Neptune’s orbit.
  • When 11yo Venetia Burney’s grandfather told her the news of the newly discovered planet, she proposed the name Pluto, after the Roman god of the Underworld. It seemed fitting, for after all, Pluto the planet, like the God, sat at the far reaches of the solar system. Her grandfather was taken by the name and suggested it to a friend–conveniently an astronomy professor at Oxford University. Astronomers were particularly keen on Pluto because the first two letters of the word are Percival Lowell’s initials.
  • Pluto was indeed demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006–but not for the commonly believed reason. The news of Pluto’s larger than expected size on Monday was particularly exciting to Pluto partisans because many believe the outsider was stripped of its planetary status because it was too small. However, Pluto was actually downgraded to dwarf planet because it’s simply not unique. Pluto is merely the brightest member of the Kuiper Belt, a mass of objects that orbit the sun beyond Neptune. [More]

Pluto Motif Pattern

Reference

Chart

Note: Chart is meant as a visual guide to the written instruction and might not be able to stand alone due to special stitches.

Video

Note: Video is spoken in US Terms. Watch on mute to avoid confusion for UK Terms.

Subscribe on YouTube for more videos like this one!

Stitch Guide (US Terms)

Note: Scroll down for UK Terms.

  • 2dccl 2dc cluster: (yoh, insert hook in st/sp, yoh, pull up lp, yoh, draw yarn through 2 lps) 2 times, yoh, draw yarn through 3 lps
  • 2trcl 2 treble cluster: * yoh 2 times, insert hook in st, yoh pull through, (yoh, pull through 2 lps on hook) 2 times, rep from * 1 time, yoh and pull through all 3 lps
  • beg beginning
  • beg 2dccl (beg dc, 1dc) in st/sp indicated – when joining rnd, ss into full dc st
  • beg 2trcl (beg tr, 1tr) in st/sp indicated – when joining rnd, ss into full tr st
  • beg dc (1sc, ch1) – counts as 1 dc
  • beg pc beginning popcorn: (beg dc, 3dc) in st/sp, remove lp from hook, insert hook front to back through beg dc, grab lp, pull lp to front of work to close beg pc
  • beg tr (1sc, ch2) – counts as 1 tr
  • chN chain N number of times
  • dc double crochet
  • lp loop
  • MR make ring: slip knot, ch3, ss in third ch from hook
  • pc popcorn: 4dc in st/sp indicated, remove lp from hook, insert hook front to back through first dc, grab lp, pull to front of work to close pc
  • sc single crochet
  • sp space (ch-sp = chain space)
  • ss slip stitch
  • st stitch
  • tr treble crochet
  • yoh yarn over hook

Written Instructions & Step-by-step Photos (US Terms)

Rnd 1 MR, beg 2dccl, [ch2, 2dccl] 5 times, ch2, ss in beg 2dccl. [6 2dccl, 6 sp]

Rnd 2 Beg 2trcl in first ch-sp, [(ch2, 2trcl) twice in same sp, ch1, 2trcl in next ch-sp] 6 times omitting final 2trcl, ss in beg 2trcl. [18 2trcl, 18 sp]

Rnd 3 Beg pc in first ch-sp, [ch3, pc in next ch-sp, ch3, 1sc in ch-1 sp, ch3, pc in next ch-sp] 6 times omitting final pc, ss in beg pc. [12 pc, 6 sc, 18 sp]

Rnd 4 Beg 2dccl in first ch-sp, [ch3, 2dccl in same sp, ch2, 2dccl in next ch-sp] 18 times omitting final 2dccl, ss in beg 2dccl. [36 2dccl, 36 sp]

Rnd 5 * 5sc in corner ch-3 sp, [1sc in ch-2 sp, 3sc in ch-3 sp] 2 times, 1sc in ch-2 sp, rep from * 5 times, ss in first sc, cut yarn and weave ends. [84 sc]

Stitch Guide (UK Terms)

  • 2trcl 2tr cluster: (yoh, insert hook in st/sp, yoh, pull up lp, yoh, draw yarn through 2 lps) 2 times, yoh, draw yarn through 3 lps
  • 2dtrcl 2 double treble cluster: * yoh 2 times, insert hook in st, yoh pull through, (yoh, pull through 2 lps on hook) 2 times, rep from * 1 time, yoh and pull through all 3 lps
  • beg beginning
  • beg 2trcl (beg tr, 1tr) in st/sp indicated – when joining rnd, ss into full tr st
  • beg 2dtrcl (beg dtr, 1dtr) in st/sp indicated – when joining rnd, ss into full dtr st
  • beg tr (1dc, ch1) – counts as 1 tr
  • beg pc beginning popcorn: (beg tr, 3tr) in st/sp, remove lp from hook, insert hook front to back through beg tr, grab lp, pull lp to front of work to close beg pc
  • beg dtr (1dc, ch2) – counts as 1 dtr
  • chN chain N number of times
  • dc double crochet
  • dtr double treble crochet
  • lp loop
  • MR make ring: slip knot, ch3, ss in third ch from hook
  • pc popcorn: 4tr in st/sp indicated, remove lp from hook, insert hook front to back through first tr, grab lp, pull to front of work to close pc
  • sp space (ch-sp = chain space)
  • ss slip stitch
  • st stitch
  • tr treble crochet
  • yoh yarn over hook

Written Instructions & Step-by-step Photos (UK Terms)

Rnd 1 MR, beg 2trcl, [ch2, 2trcl] 5 times, ch2, ss in beg 2trcl. [6 2trcl, 6 sp]

Rnd 2 Beg 2dtrcl in first ch-sp, [(ch2, 2dtrcl) twice in same sp, ch1, 2dtrcl in next ch-sp] 6 times omitting final 2dtrcl, ss in beg 2dtrcl. [18 2dtrcl, 18 sp]

Rnd 3 Beg pc in first ch-sp, [ch3, pc in next ch-sp, ch3, 1dc in ch-1 sp, ch3, pc in next ch-sp] 6 times omitting final pc, ss in beg pc. [12 pc, 6 dc, 18 sp]

Rnd 4 Beg 2trcl in first ch-sp, [ch3, 2trcl in same sp, ch2, 2trcl in next ch-sp] 18 times omitting final 2trcl, ss in beg 2trcl. [36 2trcl, 36 sp]

Rnd 5 * 5dc in corner ch-3 sp, [1dc in ch-2 sp, 3dc in ch-3 sp] 2 times, 1dc in ch-2 sp, rep from * 5 times, ss in first dc, cut yarn and weave ends. [84 dc]

Links to Weekly Instruction Posts

Quick Links to Each Week: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20

Links to Published Hexagon Patterns

Pin the Pluto Motif!

Thank you so much for stopping in for this week of the 2022 VVCAL!

Happy Crafting,

Rachele C. – The Art of Crochet Blankets

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